Violence In Vallarta

After the ghastly murders of two Canadians in Cancun, while on vacation for their daughter's wedding, I've decided to post a version of something I wrote last fall, after making my decision to return to live in Canada. Today, I sent this to the Toronto Star in response to their "Speak Out" section regarding those recent events:

After living in Vallarta for over two years now, I realize my feeling of safety here was an illusion. With the tremendous growth and the large amount of nationals moving here from other parts of Mexico, crime is on the increase. People MUST be aware of everything going on around them, especially women.

The language barrier and cultural differences make things even more dangerous. So, if there is a chance that I might become a victim of a violent crime, I would rather it happened in my own country. At least there, my support network is in place and the authorities speak the same language as me. And the police force is not more corrupt than the criminals they are trying to apprehend.